A Beautiful Lie
by Genius Equals Insanity
Summary: This is just a scene for an RP that I decided to write out as a short one-shot, due to it being too long for a solo post. No one but Harlequin of Hericide or DiversionPoint will understand this. I apologize fervently for my suck ass writing skills. Even the title sucks ass, but I got it from a song that describes Mathias/Freya relationship the most, at least from Mathias's POV.


**A/N:** Two things. First off, I already hate this plot line set up, but I needed an explanation for Mathias's absence, not to mention to actually reveal how he can die, as I've been putting that off due to laziness. Second, I'm not placing this scene anywhere in particular, so we don't have to do anything with it in RP until you're ready. I would actually rather continue the Darrius/Nina scene whenever before going into this, as that's of more interest to me. lol But I figured I'd set this up now in advance just to have it ready.

 **Warning:** I did not proofread this, so there may be mistakes and other nonsense. I just couldn't, as I seriously hated writing it, so I really didn't want to read it too, especially as I firmly believe that some OOC-ness ensued (the reason I hate it tbh) on Mathias's part. I do believe that Freya came out well, however.

* * *

Mathias was in his room at his mansion, standing behind a table where he had several vials of different colored liquids and a bowl set up, adding the last few ingredients to the potion that he had made, when he sensed someone teleport into his home. He took a moment to feel for who it was, but both relaxed and growled underneath his breath when he recognized the presence. The latter reaction had more to do with the fact that he was unfortunately not as annoyed or on guard as he should have been. He didn't even look up when Freya walked in, clearly about to speak before she froze. Not really caring about her apparent preoccupation, he ladled some of the potion into an empty vial before pausing as he was about to drink it. "What, Freya?" he asked with a bored tone without even looking at her.

"I swear Darrius is near exactly like you," Freya commented absent-mindedly. Those words caused him to look at her finally to see her looking around. He looked around himself to see what had caused her to say such a thing, but saw nothing of note that he would apply to Darrius. He gave her a questioning look and she motioned to the room. "The lack of personal effects. The only difference is that you actually have _something_ in here."

Mathias was guessing that she meant the fact that he only had the bare necessities - stocked walk-in closet, bed, nightstands, a couch, and a few chairs, all plain and nondescript, if at least expensive. He focused back on Freya. Her presence wasn't exactly unexpected. She had tended to show up on and off ever since he had revealed to her that he was still alive and hadn't died via Dahlia's little death hex. Not permanently, anyway. "You're back again. Are you hoping that you'll eventually come so often that we'll get back together? Because you're still delusional. I already got what I wanted from you."

Freya narrowed an irritated glare on him. He absently wondered when that had happened, her answering his taunts with the fire that he remembered rather than pathetic hurt. Clearly, dropping her sentimentalities regarding her siblings agreed with her. "You mean _our_ son?" He decided to ignore the use of "our" rather than "his" this time around, considering. "I've been thinking..."

"Always a danger," he interjected impatiently. He'd admit, at least inwardly, that it was a blatant lie. Even he knew the woman was at least somewhat intelligent. Only she and Darrius tended to have the ability to not just keep up with him intellectually, but actually provide a challenge.

She just ignored the interruption and continued as she walked closer to him slowly, not with her usual hesitation, but with confidence. It made him realize for the first time that Darrius had inherited her poise. Interesting. "You say I'm delusional, but you're the one in denial." He gave her an incredulous look. Was she really attempting that tactic? "You don't think so? So why am I not dead yet? According to you, your usual penchant after you 'get what you want' is to kill the mother. And yet, here I am. And we both know that if it was because of Darrius, you'd just erase my existence from everyone's minds, and he wouldn't even remember he ever knew me."

Mathias tilted his head at her as she stopped beside him. He chuckled, but instead of responding to the words themselves, he said, "I will admit, Freya, I am liking your rekindled fire and newfound confidence. The woman I remember would never let herself be used without a fight. Even Dahlia couldn't fully keep you chained. Who resharpened you? Or is this a side-effect of you finally dropping the disgusting abominations that you call siblings?"

Freya actually smiled at his taunting this time, the smile edged with something else new that he couldn't put a name to, not on her anyway, but he was again struck by the resemblance to Darrius. "I've re-evaluated my priorities. Henrik and Darrius were right. Attempting to be one of them was a fool's errand. They're just as manipulative as Dahlia and our mother ever was, and I will stand with Henrik and my son when they get what's coming to them. Happily. But..." He looked down when she brazenly placed a hand to his chest. "I want you there too."

Mathias paused as something occurred to him. This encounter may actually prove to be fortuitous, took her hand and leaned closer to her as if to kiss her, noticing her gaze flick to his lips. "I actually find myself tempted. I like this new Freya. I always knew darkness lurked just beneath the surface." He abruptly threw her hand aside and returned to his previous uncaring position. "But it's still not going to happen. I don't do relationships. And I'm afraid long-term is about to be forcefully taken off the table, love." He held up the potion, causing her to frown, before he drank it.

"What is that?" Freya asked him with some concern.

"First, stop showing weakness," Mathias advised her. He motioned to the concern on her face. " _That_ could easily be used against you." She just gave him another of her trademark irritated looks. Definitely the Freya that he remembered. "Second..." He paused, more for effect rather than hesitation, before continuing. "It's a potion to slow the progress of this." He removed his shirt to show the progress of what looked like black veins covering nearly every inch of his torso, chest, and arms. Her eyes immediately widened in horror. "Not the expression I expected when I decided to show you my chest again." She ignored him and traced the veins with her fingers lightly. "Though I did imagine you a copping a feel, so there's that." She looked up at him and he merely gave her a playful, flirtatious look, chuckling when she pushed him violently and angrily. "Really? You attack me after seeing this? I definitely like this new Freya."

" _Stop_ playing around!" Freya snapped at him. "This isn't funny, and I am surprised that _you_ , of _all_ people, think that it is! What is all of this?! You're supposed to be immortal and invulnerable! You brag about it often enough! According to you, only Darrius can...!" She froze and he was disappointed to see an expression that he was used to seeing on the _old_ Freya resurface. "Please tell me that he's not doing this..."

Mathias raised an eyebrow, pleased to feel actual annoyance and anger at her resurface, rather than... whatever he'd felt upon her arrival had been. "I do look in on Darrius sometimes. I heard your declaration of love to him and promise not to judge him anymore. That lasted a few days. Good work. Record?"

Freya gave him a look. "Darrius can do whatever he wants. Massacre towns and cities for all I care. I heard you and Henrik before, alright? I love him, whatever he does. That doesn't mean that I can forgive even him if he's killing someone he knows that I lo-"

Mathias covered her mouth with his hand, his annoyance and anger fading just as quickly as it had cropped up at the conviction in her voice, knowing that she spoke the truth. He'd rather not hear that same conviction when it came to that word. He'd decided long ago that certain four-letter words were dirty, useless things. "Let's put the L-word in the never speak pile, shall we?" He removed his hand and gave her a pensive look. "He's not doing it. Not intentionally, anyway. Do you remember the prophecy that I told you about regarding him?" She nodded. "I never told you the how. There's two ways... generally speaking, both with the same outcome."

"And one of them is this?" Freya asked, motioning to the veins.

"Do you read the last page of a book first too?" Mathias asked her rhetorically with more than a little amusement. She just rolled her eyes and waited. "The first is directly. If someone attempts to harm me, I will heal near-instantly. Even if they manage to kill me, I will revive. If Darrius is the one who does it however, I become quite mortal unfortunately, though nonfatal injuries will still heal, albeit much slower." She nodded that she understood and motioned for him to continue. "The second is indirectly. His mere existence tends to drain both my power and my life force. From the second he was born that's been the case. However, lack of proximity and contact, plus the potion, have slowed the effects drastically, not to mention that I've been alive for millennia and am the first witch, so it takes a _long_ time to drain me completely." He looked down at the veins. "Once this reaches my heart, the drain will finish and I'll die. As you can see, it's nearly there. The only reason that I'm even still standing is pure strength of will. I'm quite proud of myself. Not that it hurts. It's more of a feeling of rather annoying lethargy. That might just be my pain tolerance though. I had already died countless times by the time I was eight, so pain feels more like a pinch these days."

Freya got a pensive look. "Is that why you abandoned him? Not to mention why you haven't been to see him since your initial return? To slow this?" Mathias paused at the question. _Sure, why not?_ He nodded in confirmation. It was only mostly right. It was the reason why he hadn't been to see him since the last time he had, but he hadn't raised him because he hadn't wanted to, not at the time anyway. He hadn't even been thinking of the prophecy when he'd made that decision. "How long do you have?"

Mathias looked down at himself and did a quick check of his energy reserves before answering. "Till tomorrow. Max. Maybe later if I'm lucky, but definitely much later. Tomorrow's still my limit. Especially since I seem to have gained a tolerance to the potion." He gave a short chuckle. "I still can't believe that I actually have a limit. That's more amusing than I thought it would be. Speaking of, this is happening because Nature doesn't want anything truly immortal to exist, even me, which it made itself. I'm the Anchor for magic to exist though, for Nature to have a foothold in this world, which is why it's tranferring everything - my power, my level of immortality, the Anchor itself - to Darrius. Once it does, he'll be the same as me. You need to warn him never to have children, if the spell Nina gave him doesn't work."

"Who's Nina?"

"My daughter, his half-sister. Oh, tell him she didn't know I let her 'steal' it. That might cause issue if there's a misunderstanding."

Freya looked confused. "How did you know she'd give it to him, whatever it is?"

Mathias waved a dismissive hand. "Because she's in love with him. It's rather pathetic of her, I know. I thought she had more sense than to fall in love, but at least it's to someone worthy of her, even if I still can't see it ending well. But it actually serves my purposes if he ends up indulging her." He noticed the look of disgust cross her face. "Oh. Is this you taking offense at the incestuous bit? Because you're focusing on the wrong details!" She glared at him and he just smirked. "No judging him, remember?"

Freya rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in frustration. "I'll... deal with that later. You're dying. I'll focus on that." Mathias just looked amused as she started having a near meltdown, placing her hands to her temples. She lowered her hands and looked at him. "Do you have a way out of this? You're not one to just accept and wait for death."

Mathias just smiled and shrugged. "I do when there _is_ no way out. Plus, I die and the son I actually care about gets a power and immortality boost? Bonus." He suddenly closed his eyes and stumbled as he weakened further. He was moderately surprised when he opened his eyes to see himself seated on his bed before realizing that Freya had helped him. Rather than thank her, he just said, "I can't believe that I'm going to be bedridden for this. I feel like an invalid." At Freya's "you are an invalid" look, he narrowed a glare at her. "There _is_ one way. Darrius. As the one causing the drain, he'd either have to die or there's a spell that he can say to make the drain stop. We're in agreement that option one is off of the table?"

Freya gave him a look that clearly said "duh" instead of bothering with a response. "It's still settled though. We just go to Darrius and ask for his help." Mathias instantly locked the place down to teleportation, and telepathy for good measure, so that she couldn't teleport them or otherwise contact Darrius. He also pulled himself from her grasp when she attempted to pull him up, which just resulted in him falling back on the bed and her falling on top of him. Her eyes widened at the new positioning and he just raised an eyebrow, causing her to jump away from him. He sat back up once he was able. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked once she realized that she couldn't teleport or contact Darrius.

Mathias gave her a look as if it should be obvious. "I'm not going to ask my _son_ , of all people, for help. Not only is he _vastly_ younger than me, regardless of his level of power, but he's my son. Last I checked, parents were supposed to help and protect their children, not the other way around. Plus I'm currently bedridden. It's embarrassing."

Freya gave him a smug look. "You're allowing me to be here and help you."

Mathias scoffed. "I was with you for nine months while you were pregnant taking care of you. I've literally seen every disgusting thing that could possibly come out of you do so. You can't judge and you drastically owe me. We're good." She gave him a look. "The on!y good thing that came out of you was Darrius and I wasn't even there for that."

Freya's glare softened at the regretful tone regarding him missing Darrius's birth. "If it's any consolation, you probably would have killed me after what I almost did to Darrius before his birth." Mathias gave her a questioning look but there was no way in hell that she was telling him that she'd attempted to poison them both while still pregnant with him. "Back to the dilemma now, are you really willing to die for your pride?" Mathias just gave her a "that's obvious" look and she rolled her eyes. "Then I'll ask him!"

Mathias scoffed again at that. "Letting a woman ask something on my behalf. That's also not happening. Besides, this is moot. Darrius would never help me."

Mathias actually outright laughed when Freya made an extremely frustrated sound. She glared at him. "You drive me insane!" She paused as something seemed to occur to her. "That's it!" Mathias motioned for fer to continue. "You're too proud to ask him, because you're apparently really stupid for a genius. But I'm not. And I know he'd help me. What if I asked him for me and not for you? We transfer the effects of that..." She motioned to the veins. "... to me. And then I'll ask him to help me."

Mathias seemed to consider that. "How do you know that he'll help you?"

"Because I have to believe that some part of him still cares about me," Freya answered without hesitation.

Mathias shook his head. "Always an optimist. And you think he'd be pleased with you putting him on the spot and essentially using him as a trump card without his permission?"

Freya froze at that scenario played out in her head. "Well, something tells me that telling him beforehand that I'm willing to die for someone I love would go even worse. He shares your abhorrence for such emotions." She paused. "Especially when expressed by me."

Mathias just looked at her for a moment. "Are you? Willing to die for me? Because it's a very real possibility with this foolish plan of yours. And I will not be transferring the effects back if he refuses to help you."

Freya shrugged. "I love you."

Mathias shook his head. "You really do, don't you?" He took her hands and pulled her to sit beside him. "There's a specific transference spell for this. So repeat after me." He said the spell out loud. As soon as she repeated it, the veins disappeared from him slowly before reappearing on her to a lesser degree. "That was easier than I thought it'd be." Freya gave him a questioning look and he shrugged. "I was hoping to coax you into doing the transference spell. It has to be willing." He raised a hand to stroke her cheek mockingly with a smile. "My Freya. You're always far too gullible, my dear." She glared at him. "Off you go, then. Best of luck." He paused when she suddenly jerked and gasped in pain before watching in shock as the veins quickly spread.

Freya looked down at herself, moving her blouse aside. "What's happening? Why is it spreading so fast?"

Mathias near instantly realized why. "You're not as old or as powerful as me, so you don't have as much resistance. It's draining you faster. You need to-" He broke off when she suddenly slumped in his arms, unconscious. "Freya!" He instantly cast a nonverbal spell that would keep her frozen, the veins instantly stopping just before they would have reached her heart. He threw her onto the bed then before standing and beginning to pace. If he wasn't going to ask for himself, he most definitely wasn't going to ask for someone else, especially not Freya, of all people. He started to just kill her himself to be done with it, moving over to her to do just that, before growling and picking her up. "You definitely owe me." He teleported away to where Darrius was.


End file.
